Eemian

The Eemian was the last interglacial period of the Pleistocene. It began about 130,000 years ago, and ended about 115,000 years ago at the beginning of the last glacial period. 

The Holocene is the present interglacial.  

The Eemian is part of the Middle Paleolithic. It is of some interest to the evolution of "anatomically modern" humans. Modern humans existed at that time.

Other names
The Eemian is known as the Ipswichian in the UK, the Mikulin interglacial in Russia, the Valdivia interglacial in Chile and the Riss-Würm interglacial in the Alps. Depending on how a specific publication defines the Sangamonian Stage of North America, the Eemian is equivalent to either all or part of it.

Climate
The Eemian climate was, on average, about 1° to 2°C (1.8° to 3.6°F) warmer than that of the Holocene. During the Eemian, the proportion of CO2 in the atmosphere was about 280 parts per million.

To give an idea of how warm it was, in Britain hippos were in the Thames and other rivers, and elephants were on land.Stuart A.J. 1974. Pleistocene: history of the British vertebrate fauna. Biological Reviews 49, 225–266.Stuart A.J. 1976. The history of the Pleistocene fauna during the Ipswichian/last interglacial in England. Phil. Trans. Royal Society B. 276, 221–250. There are bones of large mammals under Trafalgar Square in London. The interglacial used to be called the "Trafalgar Square stage", and sometimes still is.Stuart A.J. 1982. Pleistocene vertebrates in the British Isles. London, Longmans. .Franks J.W. 1960. Interglacial deposits at Trafalgar Square, London. The New Phytologist 59 (2): 145–150.

 References 

Category:Pleistocene
Category:Climate change